Cabaret Convention NYC

[Doe Be Doe]

Anyone else going to the Cabaret Convention at Town Hall?

 

So far it's been pretty good. Tuesday night took me to the depths of despair with Sondheim's "Not a Day Goes By" and then gave me a slight lift with "The Rose."

 

Wednesday night the theme was songs of World War II. Some of my favorite singers: Jeff Harnar, Andrea Marcovicci, Karen Akers, Natalie Douglas, and Iris Williams.

 

Tonight, Thursday highlighted the music of Kander and Ebb. I'm not an encyclopedia of Broadway by any means but apparently they wrote Cabaret and Chicago. Not bad. T. Oliver Reid is absolutely amazing. You just know he'd be the life of a party.

 

I hope someone else is enjoying this series, too.

[+ WilliamM]

Thanks so much, I wish I had seen your post earlier.

 

A side question, if you know "Not a Day Goes By" by Sondheim, I am surprised you did not know more about Kander & Ebb. Their Broadway shows tend to run much longer than Sondheim's

[Doe Be Doe]

I'm just now learning all this. My theatre friend grew up her and is slowly educating me!

[+ beethoven]

We have been going every year for at least 15 years. We heard the songs of World War II, and it was one of the best ever!

[+ WilliamM]

I'm just now learning all this. My theatre friend grew up her and is slowly educating me!

 

To be fair to you, I can not always place Sondheim's songs with the musical. I have to look up "Not A Day Goes By."

 

It's from "Merrily We Roll Along," one of few Sondheim musicals I saw with the original cast (the others were "Gypsy" and "Sunday in the Park with George")

 

I spologize for my earlier post!

[Doe Be Doe]

To be fair to you, I can not always place Sondheim's songs with the musical. I have to look up "Not A Day Goes By."

 

It's from "Merrily We Roll Along," one of few Sondheim musicals I saw with the original cast (the others were "Gypsy" and "Sunday in the Park with George")

 

I spologize for my earlier post!

 

 

I've never seen Gypsy or Sunday in the Park with George. I saw into the woods this past winter. I liked it but it was long and complicated!

[+ WilliamM]

I've never seen Gypsy or Sunday in the Park with George. I saw into the woods this past winter. I liked it but it was long and complicated!

 

The original cast "Gypsy" opened in 1959 with Ethel Merman and Jack Klugman. Sondheim had only written lyrics for shows that had opened on Broadway ("West Side Story"). Merman insisted that someone else do the music (Julie Styne). I saw the show on Broadway in 1960. I need to remember that I am OLD.

[bostonman]

Merman insisted that someone else do the music (Julie Styne).

 

Well, almost, lol. It's pronounced "Julie" but spelled "Jule."

[bostonman]

Re "Not A Day Goes By" - one of the great things about the song in the show's context is that it has two separate contrasting sets of lyrics. The "nice" lyric is sung late in the show (early in the chronology, as the show's timeline runs backwards) as a wedding vow. The "angry" lyric is sung by the wife during the couple's divorce proceedings. So, the song at turns can be very life-affirming and romantic, or can be heartbreaking and angry.

 

In the original 1981 production, the wedding version was sung by Frank to his bride Beth (offset by his friend Mary, watching the ceremony, lamenting her own private unrequited love for Frank), in the revised version of the show now performed, Beth sings as well. The divorce lyric is only sung by Beth. (Though it seems that for a time, with the extraordinary number of changes being made to the material during previews, including the original Frank being fired and replaced, and the entire original costume plot being thrown out, that at some point, Frank also sang his version in this scene instead, as reflected on the original cast recording.)

 

One interesting change made to the divorce version over time - in the original 1981 lyric, Sondheim writes an exasperated pause into the vocal line - that kind of breath or impulse one has when they just can't go on with their thought: "I'll die day after day, after day, after day, after day, after day, after (breath), till the days go by..." - with the build in the music during this sequence, and the emotional impact of the repeated lyric, this breath seems so right. But in the revised version, he took out the break and filled in the missing "day." I've always wanted to ask him why. I confess, when I did a college production of the show this past spring, I had our Beth sing it with the pause - and she did it wonderfully.

 

Anyways - yes, a magnificent song.

[+ WilliamM]

Well, almost, lol. It's pronounced "Julie" but spelled "Jule

 

We are both wrong. Jule was apparently his real name (pronounced "jewel"). But most people called him "Julie." Merman asked for Styne because she had worked with him before. He was very aware of how to write music for her voice. At that point in his career, Sondheim was advised by Oscar Hammerstein that he needed to learn how to write songs for a major star.

[Doe Be Doe]

"Not a Day Goes By" is a great song. It's on my list of torch songs that I've been playing repeatedly since my ex became my ex without my consent. To actually hear it in concert was disconcerting. It was performed very well but I did not applaud afterwards.

[bostonman]

We are both wrong. Jule was apparently his real name (pronounced "jewel"). But most people called him "Julie."

 

Well, we're splitting hairs here (and that's fine, lol.) His name was spelled without the "i" regardless.

 

And yes, Sondheim was itching to write music, and he was not happy about taking on (only) lyrics for Gypsy after already doing so for West Side Story. But I'm sure glad he did it.

[+ WilliamM]

Well, we're splitting hairs here (and that's fine, lol.) His name was spelled without the "i" regardless.

 

We are splitting hairs! I never met Merman, but did know Mary Martin a lttle. In her autobiography, she mentions Jule Styne. In our very few conversations, Mary called him Julie Styne. I am not blaming Mary Martin;),I should have thought before I wrote his name. It was a senior moment - although I was only 16 when I saw "Gypsy."

 

William

[+ purplekow]

Just like Team there is no I in Jule. unless you are speaking of Julie Newmar in which case it is more an I I I.

[+ WilliamM]

Just like Team there is no I in Jule. unless you are speaking of Julie Newmar in which case it is more an I I I.

 

I remember seeing Julie Newmar at the mid-1960s Worlds Fair in Queens. She was looking at the exhibits with her child. Nice lady.

[+ purplekow]

I remember her as Stupefying Jones in Li'l Abner. She almost put me through puberty by herself. Then the scene in which we see of the men of Dogpatch converted to the he-men of Dogpatch, completed my transition. It was a very confusing movie for me at the time. 50 years or more later, I am still turned on by both aspects of that movie. Jerry Lewis with a cameo. Many cameos in this move and bit parts for future stars

[+ purplekow]

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/222038/Li-l-Abner-Movie-Clip-Put-Em-Back-the-Way-They-Was.html On the big screen Julie jumped out of that rocker and when those men came slowly struting out, I was captivated. Like the way the bathing suits on the men are color matched to the wives' dress. And I did not recognize Valerie Harper as one of the wives until I read the blurb

[bostonman]

I have fond memories of a rather awful summer high school production of the show I once was musical director for (shortly after I graduated college). One of the best numbers in the production was "Put 'Em Back," partly because the girls LOVED belting their faces off singing it, lol, but also because they got members of the high school football team to play the muscle guys. (The director had sway - he was one of the coaches. Unfortunately, even though he did have theatre experience, he directed with all the "subtlety" one might expect from a football coach, lol. Fortunately, he was able to talk some of his studs into making an appearance in the show. And oh my, were they hot. )